Irish, Demons ready to make their move

The Irish and Blue Demons are projected to finish second and third, respectively, according to a preseason coaches poll released at Thursday's women's basketball media day in Manhattan.

"We have everybody back and a couple of good players coming in," said Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw, whose 22-9 team reached the NCAA tournament last year. "We didn't do what we wanted to do last year so there's a greater sense of urgency. We get another chance."

Defending Big East and NCAA champion Connecticut was a unanimous pick for its fourth straight conference crown. Junior Maya Moore, who led UConn to a 39-0 record last year, was picked as preseason player of the year.

The Huskies had 15 first-place votes and 225 points. The Irish, with five returning starters, earned 210 points while DePaul tied with Louisville for third with 171 points.

The Blue Demons, 23-10 and an NCAA qualifier last fall, return four of five starters, including senior guard Deirdre Naughton. She's one of two Demons on the Big East preseason first team.

The ex-New Trier star led DePaul in scoring (15.5 points), was honorable mention All-America and is a candidate for two national player of the year awards this season. Sophomore guard Keisha Hampton also landed first team honors.

"We feel very fortunate that we have four returning, but we also have a lot of kids who didn't get a lot of minutes last year who have really stepped it up," said Nicci Hays-Fort, Blue Demons assistant coach. "We have a lot of work to do to live up to that No. 3 ranking, but it's exciting."